Monday, July 22, 2013

APACHES MAKE HISTORY ATOP DZIL NCHAA SI AN, MOUNT GRAHAM

APACHES MAKE HISTORY ATOP DZIL NCHAA SI AN, MOUNT
GRAHAM

Hundreds
participate in holy ceremony

By Sandra RamblerSan Carlos Apache Censored News
SAFFORD, Arizona – The air was crisp with a slight cool breeze
and one could hear the drop a pin as hundreds of Apaches and friends gathered
in prayer during a holy ceremony which began on July 17 through July 21, atop
their holy mountain known to them as “Dzil
Nchaa Si An,” also known as Mount Graham, situated in southeastern Arizona,
to participate a holy coming of age ceremony for 14-year old, Naelynn Pike, the
daughter of Vanessa Nosie and Willie Pike, all members of the San Carlos Apache
Tribe.Naelynn’s holy initiation
ceremony was held in the heart of Dzil
Nchaa Si An, where holy ceremonies have been held for centuries.

Naelynn’s dancing parter was Ashlee Craig from the White
Mountain Apache Tribe and her Godparents were tribal member, Valerie (Porter)
Vavages and husband, Cedrick Vavages, a member of the Tohono O’Odham
Nation.The medicine man was Houston
(Dory) Hinton and the medicine man for the Apache Mountain Spirit Dancers was
Norwyn Wesley.Several medicine men and
spiritual leaders that joined them in prayer and songs included Leroy Kenton,
Anthony Logan, Louie Lorenzo, Myron Moses, Harrison Bonito, Steve Titla and
others.

Tribal leaders present included a Peridot District
Councilman and former Tribal Chairman, Wendsler Nosie, Sr., former Tribal
Chairwoman, Kathleen (Wesley) Kitcheyan, former Bylas District Councilmembers,
Myron Moses and John Wesley and Contractual Tribal Attorney, Steve Titla.

“This is such a special moment for me,” said Dora Hinton,
in her native San Carlos Apache language.

“The Godmother, Valerie (Porter) Vavages, is one of my
Goddaughters.I am so happy to be here
to witness such a historic moment and to be able to watch her carry on an
Apache tradition which was passed on to her from me.I am so proud of her and wish her continued
success in her life with her family as she gains a new daughter through this
holy ceremony,” concluded Dora Hinton, the widow of the late Lee Hinton, Sr.,
from the Bylas community.

Tribal elder and spiritual leader, Lenora (Starr)
Robertson, added, “I am 73 years old.I
am the daughter of the late Edith and George Starr, Sr.My paternal grandparents were Hannah (Rope)
Starr and Emory Starr.They had lived
here in this whole area while the roads were being built up here on our sacred
and holy mountain.”

“Our Apache people--the things that we learn were passed
down to us by word of mouth.We were
told stories about our ancestors.They
were not written down because the Apaches did not trust the White Man so they
didn’t write down anything because they couldn’t trust them.They took our land and took this sacred and
holy Dzil Nchaa Si An away from us.”

“My grandmother, Hannah, she told me that my father,
George Starr, Sr., was only 7 years old when he started dancing here on Dzil Nchaa Si An.He became an Apache Mountain Spirit Dancer
and during his first dance here, there were no clouds but it started raining
and thundering and there was lightening.Everyone was dancing and even the horses were prancing and dancing as
well.That’s when he was given the name,
“Na’ku’sa” which means Big Dipper.”

“These songs and prayers, it is all part of our Creation
story.They will be with us
forever.My dad passed away when was 96
years old and lived to be almost a hundred.He was a healthy man but got old in the end.He was hardly ever sick and he was always in
prayer.He was an Apache Mountain Spirit
Dancer for many years and passed that tradition to the young men in our
family.”

“This is the home of our Apache Mountain Spirit
Dancers.This is a very holy place. It
is so pretty here and pure and clean air surrounds us with the beautiful pine
trees.This is a very special moment for
all of us here,” concluded Lenora Robertson in her native San Carlos Apache
language.

McBride Waterman, the eldest son of the late Ola
Cassadore Davis, the late Chairperson of the Apache Survival Coalition and an
avid fighter against the telescope project on Mount Graham, pointed out while
holding back his tears, “When I came here on Friday (July 19), I was
scared.I was thinking that I am not
well versed in all of the Apache ways and that being here may require
possessing all the knowledge that our medicine men possess.”

“As I ventured from the bottom to the top of our
mountain, I couldn’t help but think of my mother all the way and how some of
these people that didn’t want the Apaches here at one time may have been scared
of her and what she had to say.”

“During the food exchange, Wendsler Nosie, Sr., during
his speech at the food exchange, mentioned my mom and I was so touched.”

“My mother was the Godmother to Wendsler’s daughter,
Vanessa and now her daughter, Naelynn is having her ceremony here.My mother is here in spirit with us and I
want to thank Wendsler for remembering my mom as they placed an eagle feather
in her memory where the Apache Mountain Spirit Runners gather the holy water to
share with our people.”

“My mother was a very spiritual woman and she was very
strict with us.She would always tell
me, no matter how old you are, you will always be my baby!”

“I am 72 years old and we just lost her last year in
2012.She’s here in spirit with us,
right now and she would have been 90 years old this past January. She fought to keep our Apache traditions and
culture alive and to keep the Apache language alive and to teach our children
and grandchildren.”

“Our
Apache culture is very important to me and I am a proud member of the San
Carlos Apache Tribe,” concluded McBride Waterman, as he wiped away his tears.

During the ceremony on Sunday morning (July 21), Holy
Ground Medicine Man, Anthony Logan, expressed in his native San Carlos Apache
language, “The Apache Mountain Spirit Runners began their journey here on
Wednesday (July 17) from the San Carlos Apache Reservation and holy ground
songs were sung for them as they ran and carried the sacred staff up the
winding road.”

“The Godparents have gained a new addition to their
family.Naelynn Pike, she is a runner
herself and ever since she was a little girl, she always wanted to have her
dance here.We are happy for her and her
Godparents.And thank you for being
here.”

“This is the home of our Apache Mountain Spirit Dancers,
the Ga’an as they have direct contact
with our Creator and please continue to pray for all of our Apache people,”
concluded Anthony Logan.

Medicine Man, Norwyn Wesley, added, “This is a good dance
and I hope you are all enjoying yourselves and the weather.We have just baptized this young Apache girl,
Naelynn Pike, into the Apache world.We
have been praying for her and her Godparents and pray that they will always
have contact with one another as they become family.We ask for blessings for them where ever they
go and that they will be prosperous and have humility throughout their lives
and I ask everyone here to also pray for them.”

“For 50 years, I have been involved with the Apache
Mountain Spirit Dancers, as a dancer and now as their singer.I’m what you might say, the last of the
Mohicans.My grandfather, the late Fred
Wesley, was a medicine man.We are also
losing some of our songs just as we are also losing some of our Apache language
and it’s very important that we keep what we know and pass that on to our future
generation.”

“A
lot of respect has been shown for this dance.It’s an honor.This is a holy
time for all of us.What you have
learned here, please share it with your family and let’s continue to keep our
Apache songs, dances and language forever.Thank you all for being here,” concluded Medicine Man Wesley.

“My grandmother told me that I was born on the
bottom of Dzil Nchaa Si An and always
said to me, this is your mountain.She
is right, this is my mountain.Dzil Nchaa Si An belongs to us, this
holy mountain belongs to the Apache people and there’s no question about
it,”pointed out 80-year old tribal
elder, Gladys Hinton, in her native San Carlos Apache language.

“On
behalf of our family, I just wanted to say thank you for all the volunteers,
the helpers, the runners, the elders, the Godparents and their family and
friends, the Medicine People and spiritual leaders and everyone that came up
here with us to help us celebrate our annual Apache Mountain Spirit Run and
especially for the coming of age ceremony for my granddaughter, Naelynn Pike,”
said Wendsler Nosie, Sr.

Dr.
Robin Silver, from the Center for Biological Diversity from Flagstaff, Arizona,
added, “History is definitely being made here.The Apaches have proven themselves again by making another mark in their
history. They are a fearless people and I admire them for that.”

Friends traveled from all over the Country from such
areas as Pennsylvania, North Carolina, California, New Mexico and New
York.A runner for the past 11 years
joining the Apache Mountain Spirit Runners, Steve Boyd, Professor at Wake
Forest University in North Carolina, said, “It’s great to witness the Apaches
coming home to where they belong.”

As the tribal elders prepared to make their trip back to
the Apache reservation, Naelynn Pike and her partner, Ashlee Craig came to bid
them farewell.Words of encouragement
and appreciation were given to Naelynn, the maternal granddaughter of Cindy
Nosie and Theresa and Wendsler Nosie, Sr., and the paternal granddaughter of
Geraldine and Chuck Pike.

In the early 1990s, the San Carlos Apache Tribal Council
passed many resolutions after the hard work of Ola Cassadore Davis with the
Apache Survival Coalition and Wendsler Nosie, Sr. and late Ernest Victor, Jr.
with the Apaches for Cultural Preservation while advocating against the $200
million dollars telescope project.

In 1988, Congress passed the Arizona-Idaho Conservation
Act, which allowed for a special permit to allow the University of Arizona to
proceed with the telescope project.The
Tribe contemplated they were never informed and that federal violations were
made in the Endangered Species Act, the Native American Indian Religious
Freedom Act, the U.S.National
Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, U.S.
Executive Order 13007 and various other laws.

The tribe was joined by the National Congress of American
Indians, the National Council of Churches and some international organizations
and various large national organizations in their opposition against the
telescope project.

On Dec. 22, 2012, the Mount Graham Coalition, the
Maricopa Audubon Society and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a notice
of intent to sue the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service
for failing to reinitiate the Endangered Species Act consultation with the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service regarding the Mount Graham Telescope Project, a
mountain known to the Apaches as Dzil
Nchaa Si An and a holy mountain considered sacred since time immemorial to
the San Carlos Apaches.

At the end of the last day following the portion of the
ceremony that included the Apache Mountain Spirit Dancers, the rain slowly came
down, then poured for a few minutes.The
elders, medicine men and the spiritual leaders say it is to, “wipe away the
footsteps and trail of the Apache Mountain Spirit Dancers, as they return to
the top of their sacred homeland, Dzil
Nchaa Si An, Mount Graham, which is a fact and not myth as told by the
Apaches themselves.History was indeed
made again by the Apaches.

On July 21, tribal elder, Audrey Johnson is greeted by Eldred Waterman, the son of the late Ola Cassadore Davis, the late chairperson of the Apache Survival Coalition who fought tirelessly opposing the telescope project.

On July 20, Naelynn Pike is dancing with her Godmother, Valerie (Porter) Vavages on top of Dzil Nchaa Si An (Mount Graham) where hundreds of tribal members and friends gathered to witness history being made.French translation by Christine Prat, thank you!http://www.chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog/?p=1845

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